Cairnfield on The Howe, Danby Low Moor, 330m north west of Howe Farm

Reasons for Designation

Cairnfields are concentrations of cairns sited in close proximity to one another. They often consist largely of clearance cairns, built with stone cleared from the surrounding landsurface to improve its use for agriculture, and on occasion their distribution pattern can be seen to define field plots. However, funerary cairns are also frequently incorporated, although without excavation it may be impossible to determine which cairns contain burials. Clearance cairns were constructed from the Neolithic period (from c.3400 BC), although the majority of examples appear to be the result of field clearance which began during the earlier Bronze Age and continued into the later Bronze Age (2000-700 BC). The considerable longevity and variation in the size, content and associations of cairnfields provide important information on the development of land use and agricultural practices. Cairnfields also retain information on the diversity of beliefs and social organisation during the prehistoric period.

The cairnfield to the south east of Castleton parish church is unusual because it is a rare survival of a cairnfield on relatively low lying land. The cairns will overlie buried soil horizons which will include information about the surrounding environment in the Bronze Age. Because of its position, this will give indications about the land use in the Dales which is not available from the more common cairnfields on higher ground.

Details

The monument includes the buried and earthwork remains of a small cairnfield located on the northern side of a low hill known as The Howe, which forms a detached part of Danby Low Moor just to the south east of Castleton. The cairnfield includes a scatter of six cairns to the north and north east of a rectangular drystone walled enclosure on top of the hill. The largest cairn lies about 90m to the north of the enclosure. It is oval, 7m by 9m and up to 1.1m high and orientated so that its shortest axis runs down the slope of the hillside to the north. A pair of cairns lie just over 30m to the south. The easternmost of the pair is irregular in form, 8m in diameter and up to 1m high, with the second cairn 4m in diameter and 0.3m high. Another irregular cairn lies about 50m to the east, 55m from the north eastern corner of the enclosure, and is up to 8m across and 0.7m high. The last two cairns in the group lie closer to the enclosure, 35m north east and 15m NNW of the north eastern corner. Both are low irregular mounds up to 0.3m high and between 5m and 7m across.

MAP EXTRACT The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract. It includes a 2 metre boundary around the archaeological features, considered to be essential for the monument's support and preservation.

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

32614

Legacy System:

RSM

End of official list entry

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